Business briefs: Woburn company to develop flying car

Terrafugia Inc. of Woburn announced plans last week for a four-seat flying car. The plug-in hybrid-electric TF-X would have vertical takeoff and landing capabilities.

Staff reports

Terrafugia Inc. of Woburn announced plans last week for a four-seat flying car. The plug-in hybrid-electric TF-X would have vertical takeoff and landing capabilities.

Terrafugia (pronounced terra-FOO-gee-ah), is a aerospace company with the mission to build practical flying cars. It has already developed the street-legal airplane, Transition.

Widespread adoption of vehicles like the Transition and TF-X "could result in significant economic benefits and personal time savings," according to a news release from the company.

Group to host Gomez May 24

The Woburn-based North Suburban Chamber of Commerce will host Republican Senate candidate Gabriel Gomez at the Doubletree Bedford Hotel (44 Middlesex Turnpike in Bedford) on Friday, May 24, from 8 to 9 a.m. with registration and breakfast beginning at 7:30 a.m.

Woburn-based LifeLine Ambulance Service was honored at a recent reception at Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay for its role in a partnership between LifeLine and the school to create the Massachusetts Maritime Academy Emergency Medical Service.

Brian J. Connor and Robert J. Roderick of LifeLine were honored at a reception at the school, which featured a ribbon-cutting of the vehicles that make up the new medical service.

LifeLine retrofitted, painted and donated the three vehicles, including one ambuelnce, to Mass Maritime and provided training for instructors. The ambulance carries medical and trauma equipment, an automated external defibrillator and onboard oxygen and suction systems.

LifeLine also donated automatic external defibrillators to be used aboard the school's ship.

Cummings adds to biotech cluster

Norway-based Cryogenetics has leased 5,400 square feet of industrial flex space at 14 Gill Street in Woburn to house its U.S. division from Cummings Properties, Cummings announced last week.

Cryogenetics preserves zebrafish sperm for use in scientific research. The firm expects to open the cryopreservation laboratory in late summer.

The privately-held firm was drawn to the Boston area by the relatively large concentration of zebrafish-based research taking place at local universities and hospitals, according to Woburn-based Cummings.

Cummings is developing a biotech cluster on Gill Street. Cryogenetics’ neighbors will include Courtagen Life Sciences, EMD Millipore and PathoGenetix, among other biotech firms.

Tocci workers volunteer for AIDS cause

More than a dozen team members from the Woburn-based construction management firm Tocci Building Companies assembled packages of supplies for AIDS patients in Uganda at a recent World Vision event at Babson College in Wellesley.

The Tocci team joined hundreds of volunteers who loaded knapsacks with medical supplies, flashlights, batteries and other supplies.

"The world is full of complex problems, but when you have a simple activity like assembling kits for caregivers, you have an opportunity to create change," Lila Tocci, director of company life and charitable giving for Tocci, said in a news release.